The IDF has eliminated Hamas terrorist Anas al-Sharif in Gaza City on Sunday. Al-Sharif, who also worked as a reporter for the Al Jazeera network, served as the head of a Hamas cell and was involved in planning rocket attacks. Another Gaza-based journalist, Mohammad Karika, was also reported killed in the strike.
The IDF confirmed the elimination, stating that al-Sharif "operated under the guise of an Al Jazeera journalist" and was a Hamas commander responsible for was involved in planning rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. The IDF said that intelligence materials and numerous documents recovered in Gaza in the past linked him to Hamas, despite Al Jazeera's attempts to distance itself from his terrorist activities.
These documents included personnel rosters, terrorist training course lists, phone books, and salary records that proved al-Sharif's operational role within Hamas and his integration into the Qatar-based network.
According to Palestinian reports, five people were killed in total in the strike, which targeted a tent in Gaza's Shifa Hospital compound. All were journalists or photographers working for Al Jazeera.
The IDF previously identified al-Sharif, born in 1996, as a veteran Hamas member since 2013, affiliated with its East Jabaliya Battalion. He had served as a terrorist in the elite Nukhba unit and as a commander in Hamas' special operations company.
